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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23263678">The present no one wanted</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid/pseuds/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid'>bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Solitude is Creativity's Best Friend [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Explosions, Hurt/Comfort, juliet is the hero of this story, lots of thomas whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 05:21:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,687</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23263678</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid/pseuds/bowties_Scarves_and_Plaid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnum and Higgins are searching for a kidnapped girl. Thomas is inside the subject's house when it explodes and Juliet has to rescue him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Solitude is Creativity's Best Friend [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670578</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The present no one wanted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Juliet easily jimmied the lock on the back door of the suspect’s house. Magnum was currently at the front door distracting Jonathan Baker, the man in question. Juliet’s job was to sneak in and find the girl he was suspected of kidnapping. They’d both agreed that Magnum was far better at talking and Higgins was better at sneaking. Well, Thomas hadn’t exactly agreed that Juliet was better at sneaking, but he had agreed to be the one to distract the subject.</p><p>But naturally, Juliet had only just stepped into the house when something went wrong on Magnum’s end. Baker was obviously trying to shut the door on Magnum when the P.I. said something to him and was rewarded with a fist to his face. Magnum fell backward and the man quickly fled. Since Thomas was obviously dazed, Juliet took off after the suspect. In the event that the girl wasn’t in the house, they were going to need that man to locate her.</p><p>“I’ll get him, you find the girl,” She called over her shoulder. Juliet then focused all of her energy on chasing down the man. She guessed at what path he would most likely take and sprinted off in a direction that would allow her to intercept him. People like this were remarkably predictable when they were running for their lives.</p><p>As expected, she rounded the corner at the same time as the suspect and was able to take him down easily with a swift punch to the face. She kneeled on his chest and pointed her gun at him.</p><p>“Where’s the girl?” Juliet asked.</p><p>“Not here,” Baker replied with a coy grin. “You’ll never find her.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t bet against us,” Juliet said as she put her gun in her pants and zip-tied the man’s hands. She had been watching him closely when he answered and he showed no signs that he was lying. He also wasn’t acting afraid of her which told Juliet that this man probably didn’t even know where the girl was. They had always suspected that he had kidnapped her for someone else, and it looked like they were right. Baker wasn’t afraid of giving away secrets because he didn’t have any.</p><p>“The girl’s not in the house, but I was warned someone might come looking for her so I did leave something for your partner to find,” The man sneered. Juliet felt her blood run cold as she looked back in the direction of the house. Acting quickly, she kneed Baker in the face, knocking him out. Then, she pulled out her cell phone and started running back in the direction of the house, wishing she hadn’t run so far to catch the subject.</p><p>Magnum didn’t answer the first time she called him, so she hung up and frantically called again.</p><p>“Hey, Higgy, did you get-”</p><p>“Magnum, you need to get out of there right now,” Juliet interrupted him. </p><p>“What are you talking about?”</p><p>“I got Baker. He could be lying...I don’t know what it is but you need to get out of the house right away. Just get out of the house!” Juliet knew she was talking fast, not making a lot of sense, and out of breath from all of the running, but she needed Magnum to get out of the house.</p><p>“Okay Higgy, I’ll-” This time Magnum’s voice was cut off by a deafening sound. Juliet heard it both over the phone and in real life. The phone line went dead and Higgins could see a plume of smoke and fire over the roofs.</p><p>“No...” Juliet said as she ran faster. The "present" Jonathan Baker had left Magnum was a goddamn bomb. While she ran, she called Katsumoto.</p><p>“Hello.”</p><p>“Detective there’s been an explosion, Thomas was in the house, I need an ambulance and fire and rescue,” Juliet could feel herself starting to panic, but quickly reined in her emotions. She wasn’t any good to anyone if she was hysterical. “The owner of the house kidnapped a 16-year-old girl and is currently zip-tied a few blocks away.”</p><p>“Sending teams to your location right away,” Katsumoto responded. His voice was clipped and Juliet could detect an edge of concern in his voice.</p><p>“Tell them to hurry,” Higgins said and then she hung up the phone. She finally arrived back at the suspect’s house. The structure was still standing, but it had erupted into flames. Juliet circled the perimeter once in the hopes that Magnum had managed to get out, but she saw no signs of her partner.</p><p>“Magnum! Magnum, can you hear me?” Juliet shouted, knowing that he probably wouldn’t be able to hear her over the roar of the fire.</p><p>Juliet knew the responsible thing to do would be to wait for the police and firefighters, but she couldn’t just leave Magnum alone, and probably injured, inside a burning house. There was really nothing else Juliet could even consider doing. She had to go inside and look for Magnum.</p><p>Juliet ran over to the car and grabbed her water bottle. She took off her outer shirt, leaving her in her tank top. Then, she dumped the water onto the shirt and tied it around her mouth and nose. It wasn’t much, but it would decrease the amount of smoke she was breathing in.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Juliet ran inside the house. She was grateful that it was a small ranch house because Magnum was not responding to her calls and she had to go room to room to find him.</p><p>She had to go painstakingly slow because the house was steadily coming down around her and pieces of burning wood were blocking her path at every turn. She searched the first two rooms she came across and found no sign of him. She was fighting hard not to panic as she made her way into the third room.</p><p>“Magnum! Mag-” She cut off when she finally spotted him, or rather she spotted a bit of his Hawaiian shirt under a large, burning, wooden beam. “Oh my god, Thomas!”</p><p>She ran around to where his head was and found that he was unconscious. She tapped his cheek a few times, but she received no response. The beam on top of him wasn’t too large for her to push off, but it was actively burning and Juliet wasn’t sure that she could remove it without ending up with burns all over her hands. If that happened, she would be of no use to Magnum at all. </p><p>Instead, she decided that the best course of action was to drag Magnum out from underneath it. She wasn’t sure the extent of his injuries and she knew that dragging him out was likely to aggravate them, but she was running out of time and couldn’t see a better option.</p><p>“Sorry,” She muttered as she put her arms underneath Magnum’s arms. Using her entire body, she gave one huge pull. Magnum’s eyes flew wide open as most of his body came out from beneath the beam. Before Magnum could react, Julie quickly righted herself and pulled him the rest of the way out.</p><p>She quickly patted his shirt and pants where the fabric was smoking. She wasn’t able to assess his injuries yet. He was covered in ash and blood and the firelight made it hard for her to see. She had to get him out of the house.</p><p>“Wha…” Magnum panted as he tried to sit up and failed miserably. He looked around in a panic but didn't seem to be focusing on anything.</p><p>“Thomas,” Juliet kneeled near him and put her hands gently on his face to calm him down.</p><p>“Higgy?” Magnum said breathlessly. “E’vrythings burnin’” He slurred before he dissolved into a coughing fit and his eyes fell closed.</p><p>“Magnum!” Higgins yelled and his brown eyes opened up again. “We need to get out of here, can you move?” She called desperately. Magnum still seemed confused, but he nodded and with her help he struggled to a sitting position. “Okay, now I need you to stand up for me.”</p><p>To Magnum’s credit, he really did try to do what she asked from him, but as soon as he put weight on his right leg, he cried out in pain and almost collapsed. Juliet had to support pretty much his entire weight. She looked down at his leg and saw that it was burned and bloody. It was quite possible it was broken under all of that as well.</p><p>“Forget this,” Juliet muttered and shifted Magnum’s weight so he was lying across her shoulders in a fireman’s carry. Magnum cried out in pain when she first moved him and then made no other sounds. Each step was a struggle, but she’d trained for situations like this back in England. An MI6 operative was of no use to their partner if they couldn’t get them out of a situation when they were unable to walk. Higgins had practiced carrying people much heavier than Magnum for farther distances.</p><p>Every muscle in Juliet’s body felt like it was also on fire. The shirt that was over her mouth had dried and she was now breathing in a lot of smoke. She somehow managed to get the two of them out of the house and a few feet away before she collapsed, sending them both sprawling. She crawled over to Magnum and saw that he had slipped into unconsciousness again. His breathing was shallow and raspy, but at least he was breathing.</p><p>Now that they were out in the sunlight, Juliet could properly examine Magnum’s injuries. He had a large, rather nasty gash across his forehead. His entire body was covered in burns and cuts.  His leg was definitely broken as well as a few ribs. And those were just the external injuries, Juliet could only hope that there wasn’t internal bleeding or anything else major going on that she couldn’t see.</p><p>Magnum did not stir while she examined him, much to her dismay. He didn’t even react when she poked at his broken ribs or accidentally brushed his burnt skin. After she finished, she heard the sounds of sirens in the distance.</p><p>“Here they come, Magnum,” She tried to rouse Magnum, but once again, she had no luck.</p><p>Knowing that help would be there momentarily and that there was nothing she could currently do for Magnum drained all of her remaining adrenaline. She lay next to Thomas on the grass and grabbed onto his wrist. She turned so she could watch his breathing and felt his weak but steady pulse beneath her fingers.</p><p>“Higgins!” She must’ve zoned out, because when she refocused on the world around her, Katsumoto was kneeling next to her, calling her name. He was surrounded by cops, EMTs, and firefighters. Juliet got the feeling he’d been calling her name for a while.</p><p>She sat up quickly and was met with a headrush that almost knocked her back down.</p><p>“Whoa,” Katsumoto put his hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Juliet, I need you to let the EMTs take Magnum,” The detective said gently. It was only then that Juliet realized she had a vise-like grip on Thomas’ wrist. She quickly let go and Katsumoto helped her stand up and move away so the EMTs could do their job. Juliet watched numbly as they loaded Magnum’s limp form onto a stretcher.</p><p>“I…” Juliet trailed off, not really sure what she was going to say. She started coughing and then suddenly there was an EMT next to her, putting an oxygen mask on her face. She tried to push it away, but Katsumoto pulled her hand away.</p><p>“C’mon, there is a second ambulance. I will ride with you to the hospital. Magnum is already on his way there. I have some questions for you and you should definitely get yourself checked out,” Katsumoto said. Juliet stepped back and pulled off her mask to respond to him.</p><p>“No, I’m fine, Magnum was the one…” Juliet trailed off again, unable to say the words ‘in the house when it exploded’.</p><p>“I know, but you managed to get yourself a few burns,” He pointed out and Juliet looked down at her bare arms in surprise. As soon as she looked at them, she realized the feeling of being on fire wasn’t just from her muscles. The burns were probably only first-degree burns, but they were large and there were several of them. And they hurt like hell.</p><p>“Oh,” Was her response as she followed Katsumoto to the ambulance.</p><p>“I also think there’s a good chance you are in shock.”</p><p>“Huh,” Was the brilliant response she came up with this time.</p><p>“Let’s go, I called Rick, T.C., and Kumu. They are going to meet us at the hospital,” Katsumoto said. The word ‘hospital’ brought Juliet’s focus back to the detective. She suddenly remembered that Magnum was injured and that she needed to make sure he was okay.</p><p>“Let’s go,” She said, managing to sound a bit more like herself. They climbed into the ambulance and Higgins didn’t fight it when the EMT made her put the mask back on.</p><p>*****</p><p>“Higgy!” Rick called as he, T.C., and Kumu all rushed into her hospital room. “Katsumoto said there was an explosion. Are you okay?”</p><p>“What happened? Where’s Thomas?” T.C. asked before she had a chance to respond.</p><p>“Guys!” Kumu reprimanded. “Give her a second.” Kumu came over to Juliet’s bed and smoothed down her hair. “You’re hurt,” She said, looking down at the bandages on Juliet’s arms.</p><p>“Just some minor burns and smoke inhalation. I wasn’t...Magnum was…” Juliet found herself unable to find the words.</p><p>“It’s okay, Higgy, just take your time,” T.C. said in a soothing tone.</p><p>“The suspect planted a bomb in his house. I was outside chasing him down, but Magnum was inside looking for the girl. The bomb went off and I couldn’t find him...I couldn’t find him.”</p><p>“You went inside the house?” Rick asked in horror.</p><p>“I had to find him,” Juliet said. Surely these two of all people would understand why she did what she did. “He was underneath a beam that was on fire. I got him out, but he was really hurt.”</p><p>“You did good, Jules,” T.C. assured her.</p><p>“I haven’t heard anything about him yet, he was really hurt,” Higgins said, feeling a tear slip down her face. She wiped it away quickly, furious at her body for betraying her. She felt ridiculously fragile and emotional. She knew that it was partially due to shock and partially due to the pain meds they had her on. She cursed her inability to reign in her emotions.</p><p>Before anyone could say anything else, a doctor walked into the room.</p><p>“Ah, you must be Mr. Magnum’s brothers. Ms. Higgins told me you’d be arriving,” The doctor said with a smile.</p><p>“How is he, Doc?” Rick asked.</p><p>“At the moment, stable. We are keeping him sedated for a time due to the extent of his injuries, however. He had several burns that required skin grafts and he will be in quite a lot of pain when he wakes up. He also suffered a concussion. We don’t believe this to be a severe concussion, but we won’t know for sure until he wakes up. He also had a few cuts that required stitches, as well as broken ribs. He also is on a ventilator to help his lungs heal from the smoke. In a few days, we will re-evaluate the health of his lungs. If he can start breathing on his own then we will transition him off of the ventilator and start weaning him off of the anesthesia.” The doctor said everything in a frustratingly calm voice. With every new injury, he listed, Juliet felt her panic grow.</p><p>“Oh my god,” Kumu whispered. Rick and T.C. were both wide-eyed and speechless.</p><p>“I know it’s a lot to take in, but just know that he was very lucky and stands a good chance of recovering fully from these injuries. He’s being set up in an ICU room and you will be able to see him soon. I will come back when he is ready” The doctor said kindly and left the room.</p><p>“I should’ve been there with him, I should’ve never left him,” Juliet said.</p><p>“Higgy, there was no way you could’ve known. And besides, you got him out of that house. You are the reason he has a fighting chance right now,” Rick assured her, taking her hand and squeezing it lightly.</p><p>“Find me a wheelchair,” Juliet instructed.</p><p>“What?” T.C. asked.</p><p>“I want to go with you to see him, but I don’t think I am in the physical state to be able to walk at the moment,” Juliet admitted. Her body was exhausted and shaky from the strain of carrying Magnum out and from the shock and the meds.</p><p>“I’ll see about getting you one,” Kumu said.</p><p>“He’s going to be okay, right?” Higgins asked the two men when Kumu had left.</p><p>“Thomas is strong and stubborn, he’s going to be fine,” Rick assured her, his voice sounded confident, but his eyes betrayed how scared he really was.</p><p>“He’s been through a lot and nothing keeps him down for long,” T.C. agreed.</p><p>Juliet wished she had the unwavering optimism that Rick and T.C. seemed to have, but her pragmatic side always had to win out. She couldn’t help seeing images of Thomas’ burnt and broken body and she couldn’t help hearing the doctor’s voice rattle off the list of Thomas’ injuries. Even if he could recover, those injuries were certainly going to keep him down for a while.</p><p>Kumu returned with a wheelchair and they helped Juliet get settled in it. When the doctor came back to tell them they could see Magnum, he raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t protest.</p><p>The four friends made their way into Magnum’s room and Higgins couldn’t help but gasp. There wasn’t much of Magnum that wasn’t covered in bandages or machinery. He had a giant bandage on his forehead as well as his neck and his arms. He was hooked up to a ventilator, an I.V., and a few other machines.</p><p>“Oh, buddy,” Rick said as he wheeled her chair up next to Magnum’s bed. “You really got into it this time, didn’t you?”</p><p>Juliet wanted desperately to grab onto one of Magnum’s hands, but the one near her on the bed was covered in bandages like the rest of his body. So instead, she reached up and brushed her fingers lightly down his uninjured cheek.</p><p>“Sleep well, Magnum, we will be with you the whole time, waiting for you to heal and to wake up,” Juliet said, close to tears again.</p><p>“Well said, Higgy,” T.C. said, putting a hand lightly on her shoulder.</p><p>They stayed like that for a long time. Rick started babbling to Thomas about how he had to throw one of his customers out last night. Higgins was grateful because the sound of him talking helped to drown out the sound of the ventilator just a little bit.</p><p>After a while, the doctor came to tell them that visiting hours were over. They all left the room, promising Thomas that they would be back early the next morning.</p><p>***2 Weeks Later***</p><p>“Can I go home yet?” Magnum whined to Juliet.</p><p>“No, you may not,” She said in her most commanding voice. “You only just came out of your medically induced coma a few days ago. You still have a concussion and broken bones and burns that need to heal. You need to be in the hospital for a little while longer.”</p><p>“How are you?” Thomas said, changing the subject so fast it took her a bit to catch up.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You got hurt too,” Magnum said, gesturing at the bandages on her arms.</p><p>“Not nearly as bad as you were,” Juliet said, emotions threatening to overtake her when she thought about just how bad he’d been.</p><p>“Still, you got hurt pulling me out of a burning building, I don’t know how I can ever repay you for something like that,” Magnum said, his dark eyes looking at her intently.</p><p>“You can repay me by listening to your doctor's instructions and focusing on getting better.”</p><p>“Yes, Ma’am,” Thomas said, a teasing light appearing in his eyes.</p><p>“I’m being serious, Magnum,” Higgins protested.</p><p>“So am I,” He said.</p><p>“You really scared me, you know,” Juliet said suddenly. “When I heard the explosion and saw the cloud of smoke I thought you were dead. And then when I found you in the house you were nearly half-dead. And then we had to wait a week and a half for you to wake up...just...please don’t scare me like that again,” She said, unable to hold in her emotions any longer.</p><p>“Hey, hey, I’m okay,” Thomas said, taking her hand and looking at her in concern. Juliet laughed wryly and looked down at their hands, his was still covered in bandages.</p><p>“Okay might be a bit of an overstatement,” She said.</p><p>“You might be right, but I’m going to be okay,” He said. “And it’s all because of you. I am really lucky to have you as a partner,” Magnum said sleepily, his eyes starting to drift closed. He squeezed her hand after a few moments and forced his eyes back open to look at her. Higgins realized he was waiting for a response from her.</p><p>“Next time you can be the one to go chasing the bad guy through the streets,” Juliet said, deciding to keep it light. “Now get some sleep Magnum.”</p><p>“‘Kay,” Magnum said and within seconds he was asleep, his hand going limp in Juliet’s.</p><p>Juliet smiled and leaned forward to kiss Thomas on the cheek. He really was going to be okay. Juliet finally allowed herself to believe that. After two weeks of worry, it was like a weight was lifted off of her chest. Magnum was going to be okay.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am determined to stave off the boredom of isolation by writing as much fanfic as possible. So if you have requests or prompts please send them in to me!!!</p><p>Here's a link to a post on my tumblr of all of the fandoms I'm down to write a fic for<br/>https://macspaperclips.tumblr.com/post/613069342535565312</p><p>"Solitude is creativity's best friend, and solitude is refreshment for our souls."<br/>~Naomi Judd</p></blockquote></div></div>
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